Magnetic conveyer



April 1937- G. R. FICKEL 2,076,195

MAGNET I C CONVEYER Filed Oct. 8, 1954 2 She ets-Sheet 1 4 INVENTOR.

G. 5. F/c/fe/ ATTORNEY.

April 1937- G. R. FICKEL MAGNETIC CONVEYER Filed Oct. 8, 19:54

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTOR. .617 Flt/rd.

A IORNEY.

Patented Apr. 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAGNETIC CONVEYER Glenn R. Hoke], Denver, Colo. Application October 8, 1934, Serial No. 747,411 1': Claims. (Cl. 198-220) My invention relates to electro-magnetic conveyers, and its primary object is to provide a simple device which through the instrumentality of a reciprocating armature of an electro-mag- 5 netic motive agent, imparts a vibratory motion to a conveying element which in the preferred form of the invention consists of a conduit for feeding finely divided material to a distant point of delivery.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel flexible suspension for the armature whereby its vibratory motion is localized in the armature apart from the frame or other mounting by which the magnet is supported. A further object is to provide an efficient though simple adjustment for varying the amplitude or frequence of the vibrations imparted to the armature by energization of the electromagnetic motor, and still other objects are to be found in details of construction and in novel and advantageous arrangements and combinations of parts as will be clearly brought out in the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings in the several views of which like parts are similarly designated,

Figure 1 represents a sectional vertical elevation of the magnetic conveyer in its preferred form;

Figure 2, a section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3, a fragmentary section in the plane of that of Figure 2, showing a modified construction of the flexible armature suspension;

Figure 4, a fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5, an enlarged top-view of an endportion of the vibrating armature of the construction shown in Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows 5;

Figure 6, an end view of the parts shown in Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrow 6 in Figure 3;

Figure 7, a sectional elevation of the device as applied to a vibrating screen;

Figure 8, a diagrammatic view showing a polyphase circuit for the alternate energization of two electro-magnets having a common vibratory armature;

Figure 9, a similar view showing the circuit in connection with a single electro-magnet; and

Figure 10, a section taken on the line |0l0 of Figure 1.

As stated hereinbefore, the invention is particularly adapted for use as a feeding device for conveying finely divided matter such as coal, to

a point of delivery as, for example, in the combustion chamber of a furnace or the like, it being a distinctive feature of the invention that the feed produced in its operation, is gradual and uniform and is regulatable by varying the frequency of the vibratory motion by which it is effected.

A dust-proof casing 5 for the operating parts of the device has a laterally extending spout 6 for the conveyance of the material to and through a downwardly ranging outlet 1 thereof. In telescoping relation to the spout, is a tubular conduit 8 which has a feed-opening 9 registering with a hopper III in the top of the casing.

In the operation of the device this tube or conduit reciprocates inside the spout at a high frequency, thereby causing the material fed thereinto by gravity from the hopper ill, to gradually advance to the discharge end of the conduit, whence it passes into the spout and through the open end of the same, into the furnace or other place of reception. .A lengthwise reciprocating movement of the conduit combined with a slight vertical vibration, advances the material to its point of discharge at a substantially uniform rate of delivery.

The conduit 8 is mounted through the medium of a bracket l2 upon thelaminated armature [3 of the electromagnetic motor enclosed by the casing.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the motor comprises two units at opposite sides of the armature, which by alternate energization, causes the armature to vibrate between them. Each unit is composed of a laminated E-shaped core H which is mounted upon the bottom of the easing by means of a pedestal i5 of suitable form and construction.

Supported upon themedian pole it of the core, is the electro-magnetic coil H, the poles of the two units being alined at opposite sides of the armature.

The armature is, in the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, movably suspended between two sets of coiled springs l8, the outer ends of which are attached at the top and bottom of the casing by means of U-bolts 19.

The bolts are threaded at their extremities and extend loosely through holes in the parts of the .casing to which they are applied, so that by proper adjustment of nuts 20 screwed upon their threaded ends, the tension of the springs may be varied to a limited extent.

The armature thus suspended, floats between the electro-magneticunitsiand is connected to the springs by means of eye-bolts 2| screwed into non-conductive end-portions of the armature. It will be readily apparent that owing to the pivotal connections of the ends of the springs with the U-bolts and the eye-bolts or other equivalent fasteners, the vibratory movement imparted to the armature by alternate attraction and reaction, relative to the cores of the two electromagnets, is localized in the armature, and is transmitted to the casing or frame upon which the magnets are supported, only to a limited and practically negligible extent. It follows that the feed conduit receives the full value of the re ciprocating movement of the armature, with a correspondingly minimized expenditure of motive power.

Since the feed tube 8 is supported at one end from the top of the bracket l2, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and is unattached to the spout 6, it projects from the bracket in the form of a cantilever and is held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by the action of the springs I8 on the armature, and in the construction shown in Fig. 3 by the action of the wires 26. By having suflicient tension in springs l8 and in the wires 26 (Fig. 3),

the feed tube 8 can be supported nearly horizontally. Let us now assume that tube 8 is part- 1y filled with'coal from the hopper 10. It is evident that the tube and the coal will have a considerable amount of inertia and therefore if we assume that the electromagnet I 4, at the left of armature l3 in Fig. l, is energized it will exert a pull tending to move the armature to the left.

The inertia of tube 8 and the coal will retard the movement of these parts with the result that the delivery end of the tube will move downwardly as if it were pivoted at a point near the left hand.

end, which point is the center of vibration. If the electromagnet on the left is now deenergized and the one on the right energized, the armature will quickly move towards the right and move the free end of the tube 8 upwardly, but since this movement is resisted by the action of gravity as well as the inertia of the parts, it will be slower than the corresponding downward movement.

The feed tube 8 will also be reciprocated to some extent but the amount depends on the frequency. If the armature is moved slowly there will be a corresponding movement of the feed tube because the inertia will not be so effective with slow movements. The yielding suspension of the armature and the rigid connection between the armature and the feed tube produces in the latter a movement in which the several points move in closed curves and this movement has adjustment relative to the fields of the magnets by means of screw-threaded bolts 23 which extend through correspondingly threaded openings of non-magnetic parts 24 of the shunts.

The bolts project movably through openings in the top of the casing and they are provided with heads 25 resting upon the top. The shunt of the magnet-unit beyond the end of the feedtube, is adjusted by means of a single bolt, whereas the shunt of the other unit is suspended by 75 two bolts at opposite sides of the tube 8 and the hopper IU of the casing which registers with the feed-opening 9 of the tube.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figure 3, the floating suspension of the armature is established through the medium of a wire 26 which is bent in the form of a loop, in binding posts 2'! at the top and bottom of the casing and which is clamped by means'of screws 28 in the ends of the armature which are split as at 29, to admit the wire.

The ends of the wire may be connected in any suitable manner to a turn bolt 30 screwed into an opening in the bottom of the casing, which when rotated winds the wire upon its shank in opposite directions, thereby tensloning the wire to any desired extent.

The poly-phase circuits of the two magnets have been shown diagrammatically in Figure 8, in which the reference numeral 3| indicates a generator or other source of electricity, and 32 the conductors which connect the magnet coils in series with the source. By this arrangement the coil on either side of the armature is out of phase with the coil on the other side of the same, and successive attractive and reactive forces acting upon the armature will be produced.

It will be understood that a similar result may be obtained by the use of a single electro-magnet at one side of the armature. the armature and the magnet-poles is in such arrangement of greater width, and the magnet is in circuit with a single phase source of electricity' as indicated at 33 in Figure 9.

Switches 34 and 35 in the two circuits control the current-flow to the magnets, as usual.

While the device is particularly adapted for use as a feeder of finely divided matter as herelnbefore described, it may be applied to other appliances in which a vibratory motion is an essential. As an example of such different uses, the armature has been shown in Figure 7, as connected by means of a strap 36 to a screen 31 mounted for reciprocation between coiled springs 38.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the character described comprising an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, resilient tension means at opposite sides of the armature to hold the same in a floating condition, and a conveying appliance connected at an end to the armature and supported solely thereby for conjoint vibration therewith.

2. A device of the character described comprising a support, an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, tension springs pivotally connected at one end with the support and at the other end with the armature to suspend the latter in a floating condition, and a conveying appliance connected to the armature and supported solely thereby, for conjoint vibration therewith.

3. A device of the character described comprising a support, an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, tension springs on the support between which the armature is mounted, and a conveying appliance connected at one end to the armature and supported solely thereby for conjoint vibration therewith.

4. A device of the character described comprising a support, an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, tension springs pivotally con- I nected with the support and with the armature, at the upper and lower sides thereof, to suspend the latter in a floating condition, and a conveying appliance connected to the armature and sup- The gap between ported solely thereby,

therewith.

5. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, an electro-magnet inclusive of a support, spaced opposed poles and an armature positioned between the poles and normally out of contact therewith, tension means extending in op posite directions from the armature and connected with the support for floatingly supporting the armature for free vibration, and a conveying appliance connected with the armature and supported solely thereby for conjoint vibration therewith.

6. A device of the character described comprising a support, an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, a tensioned wire bent in the shape of a rectangle, on which the armature is mounted, means for holding the wire at its bends to the support, and an appliance connected with the armature for conjoint vibration therewith.

7. A device of the character described comprising a support, an electro-magnet inclusive of a vibratory armature, a tensioned wire bent in the shape of a rectangle, on which the armature is mounted, means for holding the wire at its bends to the support, a turn-bolt engaging the ends of the wire, and an appliance connected with the armature for conjoint vibration therewith.

8. A device of the character described comprising an electro-magnet, inclusive of a vibratory armature, an adjustable shunt straddling the pole and bridging the magnetic flux of the magnet to vary the amplitude of the vibrations of the armature, and an appliance connected to the armature 'for conjoint vibration therewith.

9. A device of the character described comprising an electro-magnet including a vibratory armature, a core having a pole spaced from the armature, a magnetic coil on the pole, an adjustable 40 shunt straddling the pole, and an appliance connected to the armature for conjoint vibration therewith.

10. A device of the character described comprising an electro-magnet including a vibratory arnature, an E-shaped core having a median pole spaced from the armature, a magnetic coil on the pole, an adjustable shunt straddling the pole, and an appliance connected to the armature for conjoint vibration therewith.

11. A device of the character described comprising an elect'ro-magnet having an E-shaped core and, inclusive of a vibratory armature, a magnetic shunt straddling the center pole and mounted for adjustment, with respect to the poles for bridging the magnetic flux of the magnet to vary the amplitude of the vibrations of the armature, and an appliance connected to the armature for conjoint vibration therewith.

12. A device of the character described comi0 prising a housing having a laterally extending spout, an electro-magnet in the housing and supported thereby, including aligned poles and a vibratory armature, a feed tube movably extending through the spout and connected at one end with 5 the armature for conjoint vibration therewith, resilient means for supporting the armature and the feed tube, and means for feeding material to the tube.

13. A device of the character described comfor conjoint vibration prising a housing having a feed-hopper, an electro-magnet in the housing and supported thereby, including aligned poles and a vibratory armature, a feed tube attached at one end to the armature at some distance above the poles for conjoint vi-, bration therewith, the tube having a feed-opening registering with the hopper resilient means for supporting the armature and the feed tube, and means for feeding material to the tube.

14. In a materials feeding device, in combination, a support, an electro-magnet carried thereby, said magnet having a plurality of poles terminating in a plane, an armature, a conveying appliance attached at one end to the armature, means for supporting the armature in front of the poles, said means comprising two pair of resilient members anchored to the support on opposite sides of the armature, the latter being attached between the members of the pairs whereby it can vibrate freely but will be held from substantial rotation about its axis.

15. In a materials feeding device, in combination, a support, an electro-magnet carried thereby, said magnet having a plurality of poles terminating in a plane, an armature, means for supporting the armature in front of the poles, said means comprising two pair of helical tension springs anchored to the support on opposite sides of the armature, the latter being attached between the ends of the pairs of springs, whereby it can vibrate freely in a plane transverse to the plane of the supporting springs. but will be held from substantial rotation about its axis.

16. A materials feeding device comprising in combination a housing having a top, a bottom and opposed sides, two multipolar electro-magnets carried by the sides and positioned with their poles in opposed and spaced relation, an armature located between the poles and normally spaced equidistantly from the two sets of poles, resilient means for supporting the armature comprising two pairs of helical tension springs, one spring of each pair being anchored to the top of the housing and the other spring of each pair being anchored to the bottom of the housing, the armature being connected at its ends to the adjacent ends of the springs whereby it can vibrate freely in a plane transverse to the plane of the spring support, a bracket extending upwardly from the armature, a feed tube having one end rigidly attached to the bracket and projecting laterally therefrom and means for feeding materials to the tube adjacent the supporting bracket whereby when the electromagnets are alternately energized the tube will be subjected to an unsymmetrical movement producing a movement of the materials towards the free end thereof.

17. A device of the character described comprising a pair of electromagnets connected for alternate energization, an armature supported for vibratory motion between the poles of the electromagnets, tension-elements connected to the armature on opposite sides thereof, and a conveyor extending transversely of the tensionelements and connected with the armature to receive vibratory impulses therefrom.

GLENN R. FICKEL. 

